Fastener



l. P. BURKE.

FASTENER.

APPLICATION FILED MIIII. I0, 1919.

Patented June 8, 1920.

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Fzij 3 .WIT/VESSEL? A TTHNEYS J. P. BURKE.

FASTENER.

APPLlcATloN FILED MAR. lo. 1919.

Manila- 7A A TTUHNEYS JAMES PATRICK BURKE, OF STRUTHERS, OHIO.

UNITED STATES FASTENER.

Application filed March 10, 1919.

To all 1li/0m it may concern:

Be it known that l, JAMns P. BURKE, a citizen of the United States, anda resident of Struthers, in the county of Mahoning and State of Ohio,have invented a new and Improved Fastener, of which the following is adescription.

My invention relates to a fastener which in general is of the ball andsocket type and more particularly relates to a fastener especiallyadapted for garments and made up in whole or for its major portion ofwire.

The distinguishing features of the invention will appear from thespecific description following, an important characteristic being thatthe device is well adapted for the fastening of garments in that it canbe made very small to occupy little space in sitnations where space isan important factor, and furthermore, the fastener elements areinconspicuous and may be rendered practically invisible when colored tosuit the fabric to which it is to be applied.

Reference is to be had to the accompanying drawings forming a part ofthis speciication, it being understood that the drawings are merelyillustrative of one example of the invention.

Figure 1 is a plan view of the socket A member Fig. 2 is a plan view ofthe ball or male element;

Fig. 3 is a side elevation of the socket element;

Fig. 4 is a perspective view of the ball element;

Fig. 5 is a Vertical section showing the ball and socket elements inengagement;

Fig. 6 is a plan view of a modified form of ball element;

Fig. 7 is a section on the line 7 7, Fig. 6;

Fig. 8 is a View similar to Fig. 2 but showing a ball fastener with amodified means of securing the base in position by fastening members inlieu of sewing;

Fig. 9 is a side elevation of a fragment of the ball element shown inFig. 8, the view showing the base with one of the securing members inthe form in which it is passed through a curtain or the like and showinganother of the securing members upset into clenching form;

Fig. 10 is an underside View of the base provided on the ball or socketelement of the fastener when employing the securing means illustrated inFigs. 8 and 9.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented June S, 1920.

serial No. 281,580.

The socket element of my improved fastener designated generally by thenumeral 10 lis made of a continuous wire bent to form radially disposedmembers 11, generally of triangular shape and preferably curved at theperipheral or outer side to give said members a sector shape. lThe sidearms 12 of each member 11 are thus convergent and the adjacent side arms12 of adjacent members 11 are spaced apart for convenience in receivingstitches; said adjacent arms 12 are joined at their inner ends byconnecting bars 13, each bar 13 with two adjacent arms 12 presenting aU-shape.

Each bar 13 is curved approximately in the are of a circle, so thatjointly the respective bars define a central opening 14 to receive thehead or ba-ll member cf 'the ball element 15 of the fastener. rllheelement 10 is concave as a whole, the arms 12 being curved forwardly andinwardly as will bc clear from Figs. 3 and 5 thereby imparting theneeded resiliency andV at the same time serving to so receive the ballelement of the fastener that the ball head when engaged with the socketelement will terminate in the plane of the latter and not project,whereby the head when secured to one portion of a garment to be fastenedwill be maintained out of Contact with the part of the fabric or garmentto which the socket is applied so that the latter fabric portion orgarment will be prevented from being bulged by the ball head.

The ball member 15 is formed with a base composed of essentiallytriangular or sectorshaped sections 16, the side arms 17 of whichconverge, said sections including their arms 1'? lying in the samehorizontal plane and constituting the [iat base of the ball element 15.The ball head is composed of approximately U-shaped members 18 that joinadjacent arms 17 of adjacent sections 16, said members 1S curvingforwardly from the plane of the sections 16 and being deflectedlaterally inward toward one another so that jointly the members 18 formthe ball head. The material of the members 19 is flattened and saidmembers present outward bends between the base of the element 15 and theterminals of the members 18 as indicated at 18, thereby giving the apprXimate ball form and shouldered character to the head to be snapped intothe opening 14. The arcuate form of the bars 13 gives a substantialcontact with the ball head so that the ball has a more effective bearingagainst the socket to place the socket under greater stress in effectingthe engagement of the fastener elements to insure a secure holdingengagement thereof. It will be observed that the individual elements 18correspond in number and positions with the number and positions of thearcuate bars 13 so that the individual Vbars 13 may engage correspondingelements 18 or the elements 18 Amay engage adjacent portions of twoadjacent bars 13.

-In Figs. 6 and 7 a modification of the ball element is shown in whichthe base is formed of a wire frame presenting essentially'triangular orsector-shaped sections 16ahaving convergent side arms 17, adjacent sidearms of adjacent sections being joined at their inner ends by cross barsor members 18a in the plane of the base. In this form the head or ball18 of the ball member is stamped from sheet metal and formed at thebottom with ears or tongues 19 which are bent about the members 18n oflthe base frame.

In Figs. S to 10 is shown a means for securing either the ball or socketmember of the fastener to a curtain or the like without sewing, forwhich purpose the base sections 16b are each formed with a securingmember approximately central thereon in the form of an approximatelyU-shaped device as at 2O adapted to penetrate the material A of acurtain for example and also, a disk or washer C if desired. At the leftof Fig. 9fis shown the securing meine bei' 2-0 after penetrating thearticle to which the fastener element is to be secured and at the rightof Fig. 9 the securing member is shown upset. The disk C is made witharcuate slots c for the members 2O when said diskis employed. The head1S and the arms 17 in the ball element shown in -FigsB and 9 correspondin all respects ture from the spirit of the invention as defined in theappended claims.

Having thus described my invention, I claim as new, and desire to secureby Letters Iatent:

1. A fastener including' a ball element and a socket element, saidsocket element being formed of wire presenting an annular rim comprisingequally spaced sections to which attaching means are secured, saidsections terminating in side arms convergent inwardly and curvedupwardly from the plane of said rim, adjacent side arms of adjacentsections being joined at theircurved outwardly and then inwardly toconstitute the head of the ball element, the material of said head beingiiattened.

3. A fastener clement of the class described having a base formed ofwire and presenting sections,lthe material of which is bent rearwardlyto present approximately U-sliaped securing members adapted to penetratethe material to which the fastener `element is, to be secured, saidUshaped members being bendable laterally to Yupset the same at the innerside of the material.

4L. A fastener comprising ball and socket elements, the ball elementcomprising a head and a base formed of wire presenting an annular rimcomprising equally spaced sections to which attaching 4means aresecured, Vsaid sections terminating in side arms convergent inwardly,adjacent side arms of adjacent sections being joined by curvedconnecting bais at their inner ends to present a round conformation.

JAMES PATRICK BURKE.

